India vs Australia 2019: Australia's predicted playing XI for the 1st T20I

Middle Order: Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb (wicketkeeper) and Ashton Turner

Khawaja and Handscomb join together after playing out a Kuldeep Yadav over

The battle for a spot in the Australian middle order will be one that may keep recurring throughout this series. Only one or two players can retain their spot after the return of Steven Smith and David Warner, and this will be a test to see who that player will be.

The No. 3 spot is most likely to be occupied by Usman Khawaja over Shaun Marsh, simply because the former has had more T20 action in recent times. It has been long since Marsh played a T20 game, and the Aussies will want to preserve him for the ODIs or play him in the second game in case another player doesn't work out.

Peter Handscomb is expected to edge out Alex Carey in the race for the wicket-keeper spot. The former showed better performances against India, and he can bat in the middle-order while Carey isn't effective while doing so.

Also, Ashton Turner will likely make it to the playing XI on the back of his solid BBL performances. He is expected to come in at either No. 6 or No. 7 as the fail-safe to provide rearguard action or quick runs at the end. He also offers an additional spin bowling option combined with that of Maxwell or Short.